Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from [Anthony Powell - Barkley].
[Anthony Powell - Barkley]
A question on pricing this year. For the lift tickets that are going into Vail, you guys have really raised pricing over the past several years. I assume you’re going to ratchet back on that. Will you cut pricing versus last year in order to get visitation and traffic on the mountain?
Robert A. Katz
We are not expecting to reduce price for any of the window or lead ticket prices at any of our five resorts. We’ve actually already put out pricing for certain multi-day options and certainly early season options, and all of those prices would be an increase over last year.
[Anthony Powell - Barkley]
On international visitation, a big part of last year. Are you seeing that slow down this year or is that going to continue to be stronger than domestic?
Robert A. Katz
I think at this point what we’re seeing is that there’s no question. Two things. I’d say one is that last year we certainly benefited from the exchange rate and we also benefited from the fact that I think a lot of people abroad really want to come and try our resorts. The good news is that they came last year and tried it. We’re seeing a good instigation of repeat visitations. What I would say is that there are some economies though like the UK economy which is starting to feel some of the economic softness that I think is being felt in the US. What we don’t know right now is how that will impact our ultimate visitation for the year. Other places, Canada, Australia, Germany, I think are still looking very robust for this year because we think we have some more gains to make in those markets. I would also add Russia to that list in terms of where we’re seeing a lot more travel. So overall I think it’s too early to tell how the season will come but we’re still I’d say optimistic about how international visitation will help drive this season.
[Anthony Powell - Barkley]
One more question on real estate. You said that you may see it get changes in the profit after some of these projects that are closing in the next few years. Most of them are under contract so are you able to get a possible cancellation or if someone wanted to negotiate down a price, would you be willing to do that as it gets closer to closing or how would that actually work?
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